Systems and methods for content delivery

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized to analyze a content item comprising text to identify: a quote, a named entity that is the source of the quote (e.g., a person or organization such as a company), and identification information for the named entity (such as a title of the person giving the quote). Quotes may also be ranked to determine, for example, the best quotes to include in an article.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to: U.S. non-provisional patent applicationSer. No. 14/147,078 filed on Jan. 3, 2014 and entitled “SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS FOR DELIVERING TASK-ORIENTED CONTENT,” U.S. non-provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 14/147,010 filed on Jan. 3, 2014 andentitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTENT PROCESSING,” and U.S.non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/147,001 filed on Jan. 3,2014 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR QUOTE EXTRACTION,” thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers have gaineduniversal popularity not only as communication devices, but also foraccessing information and entertainment. The improvements in mobilecommunication networks provide near-instantaneous access to vast amountsof information, such as news articles, libraries of movies, video games,ebooks etc. The emergence of these devices also changed the field ofjournalism by giving rise to new media sources that compete forreadership with traditional information sources such as newspapers andmagazines. These include content that is now available not only throughwebpages but also on blogs and social networks. In fact, traditionalmedia such as newspapers have adapted to the age of mobile devices bymaking their content available via the Internet or mobile networks.

SUMMARY

Many Internet users receive content (such as news articles) onbattery-powered mobile devices. Hardware requirements (such ashigh-speed microprocessors and high-resolution display screens) oftentax the battery life of such devices. Additionally, many forms ofcontent may be quite large, and conventional methods of downloading suchcontent can further drain the battery capacity of mobile devices.Content delivery methods of the present disclosure can help reducebattery consumption while still providing content to users in a timelymanner.

A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure includes generating, by a computer system, a plurality ofarticles, wherein each of the plurality of articles includes one or morecontent items; generating, by the computer system, a content digest thatincludes the plurality of articles; transmitting, to a computing deviceof a user, a notification indicating the content digest is ready to bedownloaded; receiving, from the user's computing device, a request for afirst portion of the content digest; transmitting the first portion ofthe content digest to a computing device of a user at a first time inresponse to the request for the first portion; receiving, from theuser's computing device, a request for a second portion of the contentdigest; transmitting the second portion of the content digest to theuser's computing device at a second time in response to the request forthe second portion, wherein the portions of the content digest aretransmitted to the user's computing device without providing anynotification of the transmissions to the user.

In one embodiment, the entire content digest is transmitted to theuser's computing device prior to a predetermined time when the contentdigest is to be presented to the user via the user's computing device.

In another embodiment, the portions of the content digest aretransmitted to the user's computing device for storage in a memory ofthe user's computing device and for retrieval and display at a timesubsequent to the first time and the second time.

In another embodiment, a method further comprises compressing thecontent digest prior to transmission.

In another embodiment, the first time and the second time are separatedby an interval of at least five seconds.

In another embodiment, a method further comprises: analyzing, by theuser's computing device, a connection between the computer system andthe user's computing device to determine a quality level of theconnection; and requesting the first portion of the content digest onlyin response to the quality level of the connection at the first timemeeting or exceeding a predetermined threshold.

In another embodiment, the user's computing device, in response todetermining the quality level of the connection is beneath apredetermined threshold, requests lead images in the content digest inthe first request and requests thumbnails of gallery images in thesecond request.

In another embodiment, the user's computing device, in response todetermining the quality level of the connection meets or exceeds apredetermined threshold, requests all images in the content digest inthe first request.

In another embodiment, prior to transmitting the first request, theuser's computing device removes data from a previously-stored contentdigest from the user's computing device.

In another embodiment, removal of the previously-stored content is basedon one or more of: when the previously-stored content was stored inmemory on the user's computing device, an amount of storage remaining inmemory on the user's computing device, and whether the user accessed thepreviously-stored content.

In another embodiment, the first time and second time are separated by apredetermined interval, and wherein the user's computing device delaysthe requesting of the first portion of the content digest until thequality level of the connection meets or exceeds the predeterminedthreshold.

In another embodiment, the one or more content items include one or moreof: text, an image, video, audio, a map, a uniform resource locator, agraph, a slideshow, an article, and a file.

In another embodiment, generating each article in the plurality ofarticles includes ranking a plurality of content items on a topic;selecting a subset of content items from the plurality of content itemsbased on the respective ranking of each content item; and including thesubset of content items in the article.

In another embodiment, the plurality of content items are received froma plurality of content sources.

In another embodiment, ranking each respective content item is based onone or more of: a popularity level of the respective content item, anage of the respective content item, a size of the respective contentitem, an author associated with the respective content item, a publisherassociated with the respective content item, and a quality rating of therespective content item.

In another embodiment, selecting the subset of content items includesselecting a first content item in a first format and a second contentitem in a second format, wherein the first content item has the highestranking of any of the plurality of content items in the first format,and the second content item has the highest ranking of any of theplurality of content items in the second format.

In another embodiment, generating the article includes ordering andpositioning the selected subset of content items within the articlebased on the respective rankings of each respective content item in thesubset.

In another embodiment, a method further comprises providing the articlesin the content digest to the user audibly, by the user's computingdevice, at a predetermined time.

The present disclosure includes various methods, apparatuses (includingcomputer systems) that perform such methods, and computer readable mediacontaining instructions that, when executed by computing systems, causethe computing systems to perform such methods.

Other features will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and fromthe detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of certain embodiments may be derived byreferring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the following illustrative figures.

FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are flowcharts illustrating exemplary methodsaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary content digest;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are exemplary illustrations of cover pages of a contentdigest;

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary legend for the content digest iconsshown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 5;

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary task list;

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary detail page for an article corresponding toone of the tasks in a task list;

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate aspects of an exemplary article containingmultiple content items according to various aspects of the disclosure;

FIGS. 8-9 depict exemplary user interface pages that provide feedback toa user regarding the user's progress in completing a list of tasks;

FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary user interface page associated with thepersonalization of content by a user;

FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary user interface page for providing access tomultiple content digests;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary internal architecture of acomputing device in accordance with embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an exemplary client computing deviceimplementation in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an exemplary system in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments.Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different formsand, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to beconstrued as not being limited to any example embodiments set forthherein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative.Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matteris intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may beembodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly,embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software,firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be takenin a limiting sense.

In the accompanying drawings, some features may be exaggerated to showdetails of particular components (and any size, material and similardetails shown in the figures are intended to be illustrative and notrestrictive). Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the disclosed embodiments.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

Any combination and/or subset of the elements of the methods depictedherein may be combined with each other, selectively performed or notperformed based on various conditions, repeated any desired number oftimes, and practiced in any suitable order and in conjunction with anysuitable system, device, and/or process. The methods described anddepicted herein can be implemented in any suitable manner, such asthrough software operating on one or more computer systems. The softwaremay comprise computer-readable instructions stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium (such as the memory of a computer system) andcan be executed by one or more processors to perform the methods ofvarious embodiments.

Task-Oriented Content Delivery

Various embodiments described below provide task-oriented content (suchas news stories) to users, and provide incentives to users to review thecontent. Users may be provided with content digests that include a listof tasks, such as a group of articles on popular news stories to beread/reviewed by the user. Each article may include one or more contentitems (such as text, audio, video, and others) selected from differentsources to give the user the best collection of content items related toa particular topic. As a user completes the tasks (e.g., reads thearticles in the task list), the user may be presented with a bonus, suchas additional content, a coupon, a game, or other content. In thismanner, embodiments of the present disclosure can provide the user witha concise, high-quality digest of articles along with an incentive toread/review them. This not only helps the user stay informed on, forexample, current events without being overwhelmed by a flood ofavailable news, but also helps to generate an active, motivated, andloyal group of readers for content providers, publishers, andadvertisers.

Articles may include entire content items, portions of content items,content items that are generated based on other content items, and/orcontent items that have been modified or transformed in some manner. Forexample, an article may include the text of a transcribed audio or videoclip, content that includes a link to a website, a graph or chartgenerated from one or more content items, and other content.

Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating anexemplary method 100 for providing content to users and incentivizingthe users to review the provided content. Method 100 includes receivingcontent items (102), generating a list of tasks (104), generating acontent digest that includes the task list (106), transmitting thecontent digest to a user (108), monitoring the user's progress incompleting the tasks (110), and providing bonus content to the user(112).

Any desired type of content items may be received (102) from a varietyof different sources. Content items may include, for example, textualcontent, an image, audio, video, animation, a stock quote, a map, auniform resource locator, a graph, a slideshow, an article, a file,and/or combinations thereof. Such content may be received from websites,databases, and other sources over a network, such as the Internet.Content items may include some or all of the content from a source, andmay include portions of other content items. For example, a content itemmay include a portion of a larger image or video.

Exemplary method 100 further includes generating a task list (104), witheach task in the list corresponding to (e.g., referencing or including)one or more of the received content items. The task list may include aplurality of tasks that correspond to each of the plurality of contentitems. Each respective task in the list may be represented as a listingof brief summaries (e.g., one or more lines of text) from one or more ofthe content items associated with the respective task. One or more tasksin the list may be selectable by a user to provide the content itemsassociated with the selected tasks. In various embodiments, for example,each task in the list corresponds to an article containing one or morecontent items, and selection of the task by the user opens the articlefor viewing on the user's computing device. An exemplary task list 310that includes seven selectable tasks 311-317 is shown in FIG. 3 as partof a content digest 300.

Summaries of tasks, content items, and/or articles may be generated andpresented in any desired manner. For example, a method for providing asummary of an electronic document may include splitting the electronicdocument into a plurality of terms, wherein each of the plurality ofterms is associated with a respective length, a respectiveinformativeness score, and a respective coherence score; automaticallyselecting a subset of the plurality of terms, such that an aggregateinformativeness score of the subset is maximized while an aggregatelength of the subset is less than or equal to a maximum length; andarranging the subset as a summary of the electronic document. Additionalinformation regarding the generation and presentation of summaries maybe found in App. No. PCT/US2012/054572 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR AUTOMATICALLY SUMMARIZING THE CONTENTS OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS,”filed Sep. 11, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

In method 100, a content digest that includes the task list is generated(106). In addition to the task list, the content digest may include anyother desired content, features, executable code, and other elements. Inone exemplary embodiment, the content digest includes a cover page ofthe content digest, a task monitoring module, and a menu. The cover pagemay be rendered from an image configured for download by a user. Thecover page image may also include information such as keywordsassociated with the content items in the task list, temporal informationof the content digest such as the day/date of publication, one or morelines regarding a content item associated with the task list, and/orsource(s) of various content items. The content digest may also includea task completion screen that provides feedback to the user regardingthe extent to which the user has completed tasks on the task list. Thecontent digest may also be configured to include a timer that indicatestime until the next content digest is scheduled to be delivered to auser.

Access to prior content digests received by the user can also beprovided via various user interface features, such as a scrollable list.A limited number of the content digests that immediately precede thelatest content digest may be stored locally on the user device, whilethe content server or other computer system that provides the contentdigests can be automatically contacted to retrieve older content digeststhat are not in the local storage of the user's computing device.

The content digest may be configured to present customized content atthe direction of the user. For example, news from user selected sources,or other information that is customized to the user's profile andtailored to the user's preferences can also be included in the contentdigest. In some embodiments, the content digest may be configured fortransmission to a large number of users such that the cover page and thetask list may include content that is general to all the users, whileproviding personalized content for each user on the internalpages/modules of the content digest. In other embodiments, personalizedcontent may be presented anywhere in the content digest.

The content digest may include scripts, executable code, and otherfunctional content. In one exemplary embodiment, the content digestincludes code for monitoring a user's progress with respect to taskcompletion. In this embodiment, the task monitoring code transmits acommunication regarding the completion of tasks to a content serverproviding the content digests, thereby allowing the content server tomonitor the user's progress in completing the tasks (110).

The generated content digest is transmitted to the computing devices ofone or more users (108). In some embodiments, different portions of thecontent digest may be transmitted at different times based on networkbandwidth. For example, the text in the content digest can be initiallypushed to a user's computing device and images in the digest can betransmitted at a later time. In various embodiments, once the contentdigest is downloaded completely, the user can be notified regarding theavailability of the content digest. The user may select a time at whichnew editions of the content digest are displayed. Alternatively, newcontent digests can be published at predetermined intervals, such astwice a day in the form of a morning digest and an evening digest.

The progress by the user in completing the tasks may be monitored (110)for a variety of purposes, such as to determine whether the userqualifies for bonus content (as described below), to identify contentthat is popular or unpopular with users, and/or to gather metrics on theamount of time users spend reviewing various content items. In order tofacilitate this monitoring, the task listing may comprise code thatmonitors the user's progress in completing various tasks andcommunicates the user's progress with the content server providing thecontent digest, or to other computer system.

A variety of criteria may be used by embodiments of the presentdisclosure in determining whether individual tasks have been completed,as well as in determining whether the bonus content should be provided.In some embodiments, a list of selectable tasks may be provided inconjunction with a content digest, and a user's progress in completingthe tasks may be determined in part by determining which of the taskshave been selected by the user. One or more tasks in the task list maycorrespond to an article (itself containing one or more content items)and selection of the task in the list may display the correspondingarticle to the user.

Completion of a task, such as selecting, reviewing, or interacting withan article in other ways, may be based on whether certain content itemswithin the article is displayed to the user and/or how long a userspends viewing the article or particular content item. For example,completion of an article that includes text content may be determinedbased on whether the text is viewed by the user for at least apredetermined period of time. In other cases, completion of an articlemay be determined based on whether a user selects a content item such asa hyperlink, embedded video clip, or other selectable content itemcontained within the article. Completion of an article may also bedetermined based on whether a predetermined number of content items aredisplayed to the user, as well as based on whether the content items aredisplayed within a predetermined period of time.

The task list may indicate to the user which tasks the user hascompleted based on the user's interaction with the task. Referring tothe exemplary screenshot in FIG. 8, a set of seven icons are arranged onthe screen. In this example, the user is initially presented with a setof icons numbered 1-7 that correspond to the order of the tasks in thetask list. As the user completes the tasks (e.g., by accessing orreviewing the articles and content items associated with each task), thenumber of the task is replaced by a checkmark icon. In FIG. 8, forexample, the user is shown as having completed tasks 2, 3, 5, and 6, andstill has tasks 1, 4, and 7 yet to complete.

In response to a user completing some or all of the tasks on a task listof a content digest, bonus content is provided to the user (112). Thebonus content may be transmitted to the user's computing device from thecontent server providing the content digests, or from another computersystem. The bonus content can include coupons, single or multiplayergames, additional audio, video or text content, trivia, loyalty rewards(such as points that can be spent on merchandise), a poll, an image, aslideshow, comics, sponsored content, and/or combinations thereof. Inone exemplary embodiment, the bonus content includes a trivia questionregarding one or more content items associated with a task completed bythe user, such as an article the user read. In response to the usercorrectly answering the trivia question, additional bonus content may beprovided to the user. In some embodiments, additional bonus content(such as loyalty rewards) may be provided to users who consistentlycomplete tasks from the content digests.

In some embodiments, a user may be required to complete all the tasks ina task list before bonus content is provided to the user. In otherembodiments, the user may only be required to complete (e.g., byselection and/or review) a predetermined number of tasks in the list.The completion of tasks may also be weighted, such that completion of asingle task (e.g., completing a long, complex article or one of greatimportance) may count more towards the user receiving the bonus contentthan completing multiple other tasks (e.g., completing several shortarticles).

Embodiments of the present disclosure may monitor the user's progress todetermine whether the user completes a predetermined number of taskswithin a predetermined period of time in order to receive the bonuscontent. In some cases, for example, a content digest may be provided toa user at regular intervals, such as twice a day (e.g., once in themorning and once in the evening). In such cases, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may require that the user complete all the tasks inthe morning digest prior to receiving the evening digest in order toreceive bonus content. Among other things, this helps encourage the userto review news articles and other content in a timely manner, thuskeeping the user well-informed on a regular basis, but also benefittingadvertisers and content providers by encouraging the user to view thecontent regularly.

In some embodiments, an encrypted form of the bonus content can betransmitted along with the content digest. The bonus content can then bestored locally on the user's computing device. When the user completesenough tasks on the task list to receive the bonus content, the taskmonitoring module may automatically decrypt the bonus content andprovide it to the user. In this manner, the bonus content can be madeavailable to the user immediately upon qualifying for the content, evenif the user is not presently in range of any communication networks.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram an exemplary content digest 300 according tovarious aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, the contentdigest 300 comprises a cover page 302 and a task list 310 that includesa plurality of selectable tasks 311-317. Each of the selectable tasks311-317 corresponds to a respective one of the articles included in thecontent digest 300. In one exemplary embodiment, each of the tasks311-317 is represented in the task list with a short summary which, whenselected displays the respective article associated with the selectedtask. The content digest 300 may also comprise a task monitoring module320 configured to monitor the user's progress in completing the tasks inthe task list 310. The task monitoring module 320 includes a userinterface 322 that indicates the user's progress in completing tasks311-317.

As described above, as the user completes each task (e.g, by selectingthe tasks, reviewing the associated articles and/or content itemswithin, etc.) an icon associated with the task may be altered inappearance to convey that the user has completed the task. The number oficons included on the user interface 322 corresponds to the number oftasks or number of content items included in the task list 310. In oneembodiment, when the last task is completed, the task monitoring module320 is configured to execute an animation indicating that all tasks aredone and that the bonus content is ready to be accessed by the user. Thetask monitoring module 320 can be configured to contact a bonus contentprovider such as, for example, a server providing the content digest, toprovide bonus content to the user.

The content items corresponding to the tasks 311-317 need not bepersonalized to a specific user, rather all users may receive the samecontent items in the task list 310. In some exemplary embodiments,however, the content digest 300 may comprise an additionalpersonalization module 330 that includes content items personalized to aspecific user. Users may utilize the personalization module 330 toprovide selections regarding the type of content they would like toreceive. Additionally, a user's habits or preferences may be implicitlydetermined and news items or other content provided accordingly.

A menu 340 may also be included in the content digest 330. In oneexemplary embodiment, the menu 340 comprises a timing module 342 and anarchive module 344. The timing module 342 maintains countdown until thenext content digest can be received by the user, while the archivemodule 344 is configured to provide access to prior content digestsreceived by the user. The content digest 300 may be configured to expirewithin a predetermined time period such that the content digest 300 isno longer stored on a user's device after that time.

As described above, different digests may be published at predeterminedtime periods and the different digests may include different cover pagesthat are indicative of the various aspects of the associated contentdigest. The cover page 302 can be indicative of the content in thedigest and/or its time of publication. For example, two digests, amorning digest and an evening digest, can be published within a singleday and the cover page 302 included in each digest can be indicative ofwhether the digest is a morning digest or an evening digest.

FIG. 4A is an illustration showing an exemplary cover page for a contentdigest 300. In this example, section 402 indicates that the cover page400 belongs to a Wednesday morning digest. In addition to the text 404,an icon 406 indicative of the time of publication is also included.Image 408 displays a pattern in FIG. 4A, and may contain otherinformation and graphics as well.

Section 410 provides information indicative of the content included withthe cover page 400. A headline 412 summarizes the first article (alsoreferred to herein as a story) or other collection of content itemsincluded in the content digest associated with the cover page 400. Anindication of content source(s) 420, such as authors and contentpublishers, is depicted below the headline 412. In cases where anarticle contains content items from different sources, each contentsource may be listed. Alternatively, a source providing the largestnumber of content items, or the most significant content items, may belisted in the headline. In the example depicted in FIG. 4A, two sourcesare listed and an indication is given that there are another fifteensources for the content items in the story.

The icons 414 beneath the content source 420 indicate the format ofcontent items found in the article. Icon 416, for example, indicatesthat the story associated with the headline 412 includes at least onecontent item comprising text, while icons 418 indicate that the storyincludes at least one content item corresponding to the two otherformats. FIG. 4C provides an exemplary legend of format types that maybe associated with icons 414. Completion icon 422 indicates whether theuser has completed review of this article as described above. In FIG.4A, the completion icon is a checkmark, indicating the user hascompleted the review.

FIG. 4B is another illustration of an exemplary cover page 450 for acontent digest. In this example, cover page 450 includes some elementssimilar to the cover page 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A, and for the sakeof brevity the description of such elements is not repeated. However, itmay be noted that, among other things, the icon 422 against the headline412 is not checked off in FIG. 4B as it is in FIG. 4A, and instead showsa number. This is indicative that the task associated with reviewing thearticle described by headline 412 is yet to be completed by the user.

In the exemplary cover page shown in FIG. 4B, a list of keywords 460 isdisplayed as an overlay on an image 462. In one exemplary embodiment,the keywords in the list 462 are generated in conjunction with thegeneration of the content digest (106) and are related to the tasks thatare included in a task list of a corresponding content digest. One ormore keywords may be generated to correspond to a respective one task(e.g., an article to be read) in the task list. In this example, thecover page 450 thus indicates the subject matter and/or topics of thetasks included in the corresponding content digest. In an embodiment,the keywords in the list 462 may comprise selectable links to thecorresponding story in the content digest so that a user selection ofone of the keywords results in the display of the respective story.

The task list 310 (and associated articles or other content) may bepresented in a variety of different ways. FIG. 5 is an exemplary page500 displaying a portion of a task list 310. In this example, three ofthe tasks (311, 312, and 313) are currently displayed on the page,wherein further scrolling down or a side swipe by a user can display theremaining four tasks included in the task list 310.

In FIG. 5, the representations of each of the tasks 311, 312 and 313 inthe task list 310 include selectable icons 512, 514 and 516. Theselectable icons 512, 514, 516 indicate the format of a content itemcontained within the article associated with the task. Selection of oneof the icons 552 in the group 512 displays the corresponding contentitem as an overlay over the currently displayed task list 310. In caseswhere multiple content items of the same format are present in anarticle, selection of an icon may bring up a menu from which the userselects the particular content item the user wishes to access. Inalternate embodiments, the icons 512, 514, 516 are not selectable, andare simply descriptive of the format of the content items included in anarticle/story or other item associated with a task.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, each of the tasks 311, 312 and 313 inthe task list 310 further comprise a brief description or summary of thearticle associated with the task 522, 524, and 526 and task completionicons 532, 534 and 536. As shown, task 311 is indicated as beingcompleted with icon 532 being displayed as a checkmark, whereas icons534 and 536, corresponding to tasks 312 and 313, respectively, displaythe respective number for the tasks, indicating the tasks are yet to becompleted by a receiving user.

FIG. 6 is an example of a detail page 600 one of the articles associatedwith a task in the task list in accordance with one embodiment. In thisexample, a content item comprising an image 602 and a content itemcomprising text 604 are selected from the article and shown in thedetail page 600. In this example, only a portion either content item isdisplayed on the detail page, and further scrolling of the detail page600 by the user can reveal additional detail regarding content items 602and 604, as well as other content included in the story. The label 606included in the detail page indicates that the content item belongs tothe entertainment news category.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate aspects of an exemplary article 700 containingmultiple content items according to various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In this example, article 700 includes a summary page 710 anddetailed pages (720 and 730) configured as a long scrollable web pagethat includes different content items from one or more sources. Thescrollable page is shown in three parts as illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7Cfor the purposes of illustration, and a scrollable page of an articledisplayed by embodiments of the present disclosure may be of any lengthand may include any number of content items from any number of differentsources.

Summary page 710 is generated from the different content items(potentially received from different content sources) in the article700. In the example shown in FIG. 7A, the summary page 710 comprisescontent items that include an image 702, text 704 and a quote 706. Inaddition, the summary page 710 includes a link 708 to access the fullarticle.

FIG. 7B illustrates the portion 720 of the detailed page that isdisplayed to the user when the user first selects the link 708. Thedetailed portion 720 includes content items including a set of images722, a video 724, text from a website, and a map 728 showing a locationreferred to in the events detailed in the story 700.

FIG. 7C illustrates the third portion 730 of the detail page associatedwith the article 700. The third portion 730 includes a stock chart 732two entries from a microblogging service 734, 738, and a listing of newsreports 736 from various sources. In an embodiment, multiple pieces ofcontent can be provided as a bar that can be swiped horizontally by theuser in order to review the content.

FIGS. 8 and 9 depict exemplary user interface pages that providefeedback to a user regarding the user's progress in completing a list oftasks. In FIG. 8, completion icons (similar to completion icons 422 inFIGS. 4A and 4B) corresponding to each of the tasks from a task list arearranged around the text indicating the number of tasks the user hascompleted 802. In this example, of the seven tasks in the task list, theuser has completed four tasks. Accordingly, four of the icons show acheckmark to indicate the tasks are completed, while the icons for tasks1, 4, and 7 still show their respective numbers to indicate these tasksare yet to be completed.

The exemplary page shown in FIG. 8 additionally includes a bonus contentsection 804 which indicates the user can access the bonus content oncethe user completes all seven tasks (i.e., by reading all seven storiesassociated with seven tasks). A feedback button 806 is also provided toenable a user to give feedback to the publisher of the content digest.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary page provided to the user uponcompleting all the tasks in the task list. Page 900 includes aninstruction 902 to tap the screen in order to receive the bonus content,and a link 904 to access additional stores.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary user interface page 1000 associated with thepersonalization of content by a user. Page 1000 may be displayed inconjunction with the operation of the personalization module 330 andpersonalization user interface 332 described above with reference toFIG. 3. In various embodiments, content delivered to a user may becustomized based on settings entered by the user and/or based onimplicit preferences of the user determined from, for example,categories of content the user has a tendency to access or avoid. InFIG. 10, a plurality of content items 1002, 1004 and 1006 are includedin page 1000 corresponding to world news stories. Any other category ofcontent may be delivered to the user as part of the personalized contentdelivery.

FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary user interface page 1100 for providingaccess to multiple content digests, among other things. Page 1100 may beused in conjunction with embodiments that publish content digests atregular intervals, such as twice a day. Page 1100 includes a timer 1102that gives a countdown to the next content digest that is to bepublished, as well as an animated circle 1104 associated with the timer1102. The timer 1102 indicates that a new digest will be available afterthe nine hours. This is also indicated via the circle surrounding theclock 1102 wherein a portion 1104 of the circle is darkened or filled inthe counter-clockwise direction with the passage of time. The portion1106 of the circle that remains lighter indicates the time until thenext content digest can be received by the user. Alternatively, thedarker portion 1104 may be used to indicate the time left until the nextcontent digest is published. In this example, a content digest ispublished twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening, andthe icon 1108 on page 1100 currently indicates that the next digest tobe published is a morning digest. A similar icon associated with a nightdigest can be displayed in conjunction with a countdown until the nightdigest.

The archive module 344 provides access to content digests that issuedprior to the content digest associated with the menu 340. The archivemodule 344 includes a plurality of digest icons of which icons 1112,1114 provide access to a respective prior content digest. The pluralityof digest icons can be scrolled in two directions along the arrow 1120to access a desired prior content digest. Sliding the prior digest iconsto the right provides the user access to content digests that issued inthe past whereas sliding the arrow to the left provides the user accessto content digests that issued closer to the current content digest. Forexample, selection of one of the prior digest icons 1111 provides theuser access to the morning digest of November 16 whereas selection ofanother prior digest icon 1112 provides the user access to the eveningdigest of November 16. The highlighted icon 1114 indicates that themorning digest of Sunday, November 17 is expected next and that theclock 1102 shows the count down to the digest indicated by thehighlighted icon 1114. The icon 1116 is indicative of a content digestthat is yet to be published.

Content Processing

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be used to gather, rank,categorize, and perform other processing of various types of content. Insome embodiments, content items such as text, images, video, and othercontent are received from a variety of different sources and areprocessed to generate an article containing selected content items.While there may be hundreds or thousands of separate articles andstories regarding a particular topic, embodiments of the presentdisclosure help provide users with a single concise article thatcontains high-quality content items selected from among a potentiallyvast number of disparate sources.

FIG. 2A is an exemplary flow diagram for a process for generating anarticle according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Process200 includes receiving content items related to a topic (202), analyzingthe content items (204), ranking the content items (206), selecting asubset of the content items (208), generating an article that includesthe selected subset of content items (210), and transmitting the article(212).

Any number and type of content item may be received (202) from anynumber of different sources, as described above with reference toFIG. 1. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also perform anydesired analysis (204) of the content items for any desired purpose. Inone exemplary embodiment, at least one of the received content items(such as a text article) is analyzed to identify a quote, a named entitythat is the source of the quote, and identification information for thenamed entity. Details on analyzing a content item for quoteidentification and extraction is described in more detail below.

There may be hundreds or thousands of separate content items related toa given topic. Embodiments of the present disclosure may rank receivedcontent items (206) to help identify the best content items related to aparticular topic to include in an article, thus helping to provide userswith the highest-quality content available on a topic without having tomanually search through large numbers of articles from disparatesources.

Content items may be ranked (206) in any desired manner, such as basedon one or more of: a popularity level of the respective content item, anage of the respective content item, a size of the respective contentitem, an author associated with the respective content item, a publisherassociated with the respective content item, and a quality rating of therespective content item. The popularity level of a content item may bedetermined based on, for example, the number of times users have: viewedthe content item, given the content item a favorable rating, and/orforwarded the content item (or a link thereto) to another user. The ageof the respective content item may be measured in any desired manner,such as based on a timestamp in an article containing the content item.The size of the content item may be likewise be measured in any suitablemanner, such as based on the file size (i.e., in bytes) of the item, aswell as number of words or characters in a text article, and/or thelength of time it takes to view a video clip or listen to an audio clip.The author, publisher, and other information related to the source ofthe content item may be obtained from an article containing the contentitem, the content item itself, a website providing the content item, orother sources.

A subset of the content items may be selected (208) based at least inpart on the respective ranking of each content item, and this subset ofcontent items can then be used in generating (210) an article. Forexample, referring again to FIG. 7A, a first content item in a firstformat (such as image 702) and a second content item in a second format(such as text 704) may each be selected from among other images and textbased on image 702 being the highest ranked image among the othercontent items in image format, and text 704 being the highest rankedimage among the other content items in text format. Additionally, theordering and positioning of content items in an article may be based onthe ranking of the respective items. In FIGS. 7A and 7B, for example,image 702 may have a higher ranking than any of the group of images 722in FIG. 7B, thus resulting in image 702 being placed ahead of images 722in the article 700.

Likewise, the ranking of content items of different formats may affecttheir ordering and positioning within an article. For example, image 702may be ranked higher than text 704, thus resulting in image 702 beingplaced ahead of text 704 in the article 700. Ordering and positioning ofcontent items need not be strictly based on ranking, however. Otherfactors such as size, relevance, and editorial preference may overrideany ranking. For example, even if image 702 is ranked lower than text704, an editorial decision to begin article 700 with an image may stillresult in image 702 being positioned ahead of text 704. Additionally,content items having the same ranking may be arranged in any orderaccording to any desired criteria. The article can be transmitted (212)to a user in a variety of different ways, such as by transmitting a filecontaining the article to user's computing device over a network,posting the article on a website for retrieval by the user, and/ordisplaying the article to a user over a user interface of a computersystem.

Quote Extraction

In the exemplary process depicted in FIG. 2A, analysis of a content item(204) may include to analyzing a content item comprising text toidentify: a quote, a named entity that is the source of the quote (e.g.,a person or organization such as a company), and identificationinformation for the named entity (such as a title of the person givingthe quote). The quote, the named entity, and the identification for thenamed entity may then be included in the article that is generated(210). The content item from which the quote is identified may be one ofthe content items in the selected subset of content items in thearticle, or the quote may be included in the article separate from thecontent item from which it was identified.

Just as content items such as images, video, audio, text, and othertypes of content may be ranked, quotes may also be ranked to determinethe best quotes to include in an article. Quotes from different namedentities, or the same named entity, may be ranked and compared againsteach other. Likewise, multiple quotes from the same content item (e.g.,a single article), or from different content items, may be ranked andcompared. The information regarding the named entities may be the sameor different independent of whether the named entities are the same. Forexample, in the case where a first quote is made by “John Smith,” and asecond quote is made by “Jane Doe,” both named entities (Smith and Doe)may still be identified as members of the same organization (e.g.,working for the same company).

Quotes may be ranked in any desired manner and according to any desiredcriteria. In some embodiments, two quotes from the same content item maybe ranked based on their respective positions within the content item.For example, a first quote that is positioned ahead of a second quote inan article may be ranked higher than the second quote. Quotes may alsobe ranked based on the number of times they occur in other contentitems. For example, where two quotes are identified from a singlecontent item, the first quote may be ranked higher than the second quotewhere the first quote appears more times among the other receivedcontent items than the second quote.

Quotes may further be ranked based on their length. For example, alonger quote may be ranked higher than a shorter quote, or vice versa. Afirst quote may be ranked higher than a second quote where it is longerthan a predetermined number of words, and also shorter than the lengthof the second quote. Other combinations may also be employed byembodiments of the present disclosure. In this manner, embodiments ofthe present disclosure can give a higher ranking to quotes that havesufficient detail to be meaningful to the reader while still beingconcise.

Quotes may be ranked based on their content, such as the types of wordsand/or the language used. In one exemplary embodiment, a quote may beranked based on an analysis of keywords in the quote and the relevanceof those keywords to the topic of the article being generated. Quotesmay be ranked higher or lower based on whether they use difficult (orsimple) language, whether they use words from a language that is likely(or unlikely) to be understood by the user or audience receiving thearticle, and other criteria.

Quotes may be ranked based on the information available for the namedentity providing the quote. For example, where there is little or noinformation regarding the named entity that is the source of a firstquote, but ample information regarding the named entity that is thesource of a second quote, the second quote may be ranked higher than thefirst quote. In another example, a quote for which there is at least apredetermined amount of information regarding the named entity that isthe source of the quote may still be ranked the same as a quote forwhich there is an abundance of information about the named entityproviding the quote.

Information regarding a named entity that is the source of a quote maybe identified in a variety of different ways. In some embodiments,information regarding a named entity may be determined by performing acoreference resolution to identify the named entity and informationregarding the entity. For example, if a content item includes thesentence: “[i]t's hard to argue that increasing prices would benefitconsumers, he said,” the first portion of the sentence (except for “hesaid”) may be identified as the quote, while the personal pronoun “he”may be determined, by a coreference resolution analysis, to refer to thenamed entity “John Smith” mentioned elsewhere in the article. Similarly,the coreference analysis may determine information regarding John Smith,such that he is a “spokesman for ABC Corporation.”

In some exemplary embodiments, all available information pertaining to anamed entity within a content item is identified and provided in anarticle that includes the corresponding quote from the entity. Inalternate embodiments, only a subset of the total available informationregarding the named entity is provided in the article. Informationregarding a named entity may also be retrieved from sources other thanthe content item containing the quote.

FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary process for identifying a quoteaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In thisexample, process 225 includes receiving a plurality of content itemscontaining text (227), analyzing at least one of the content items toidentify a quote, a named entity that is the source of the quote, andidentification information regarding the named entity (229), ranking thequote (231), and providing the quote to a user (233).

Content items may be received (227) and ranked (231) in any desiredmanner, including as described above for FIGS. 1 and 2A. A quote (aswell as the named entity that is the source of the quote and theinformation regarding the named entity) can be provided (231) to anyuser, system, and/or device in any desired manner, such as bytransmitting the quote over a network or by displaying the quote to auser via a user interface of a computer system (e.g., via a displayscreen and/or printout). The quote can be saved in a memory of acomputer system, and can be transmitted by itself or as part of a fileor a generated article, such as the article generated in conjunctionwith the process described above for FIG. 2A.

The analysis of a content item (229) may be used to identify a chain ofinformation related to the named entity. Such analysis may be limited tothe content item from which a quote is identified, or may include ananalysis of other content items and sources. For instance, continuingthe example above, “John Smith” is a named entity responsible for aquote regarding consumers. A first set of information identifying JohnSmith as a “spokesman” is descriptive of John Smith, and thus isdescriptive of the named entity that is the source of the quote.Additional analysis may determine a second set of information thatidentifies the name of an organization, ABC Corporation, for which JohnSmith is a spokesman, and is thus descriptive of the first set ofinformation.

Further analysis may determine, a third set of information identifyingABC Corporation as a “subsidiary of XYZ Corporation.” This third set ofinformation, that ABC Corp. is a subsidiary of XYZ Corp, describes theassociation between ABC Corp. and XYZ Corp. and is thus descriptive ofthe second set of information. The chain of information may continue asdesired, until a predetermined number of sets of information have beenidentified, until no further information is available within the contentitem from which the quote is extracted, or based on any other criteria.For example, A fourth set of information identifying XYZ Corp. as beingincorporated in the state of California is descriptive of the third setof information.

Content Delivery

Many Internet users receive content (such as news articles) onbattery-powered mobile devices. Hardware requirements (such ashigh-speed microprocessors and high-resolution display screens) oftentax the battery life of such devices. Additionally, many forms ofcontent may be quite large, and conventional methods of downloading suchcontent can further drain the battery capacity of mobile devices.Content delivery methods of the present disclosure can help reducebattery consumption while still providing content to users in a timelymanner.

FIG. 2C is an exemplary method for content delivery according to variousaspects of the present disclosure. The exemplary method 250 in FIG. 2Cincludes generating articles (252), generating a content digest thatincludes the articles (254), compressing the content digest (256),sending a notification to one or more client devices to indicate thecontent digest is available (258), receiving a first request for datafrom the content digest (260), transmitting a first portion of thecontent digest at a first time (262), receiving a second request fordata from the content digest (264), and transmitting a second portion ofthe content digest at a second time (262).

The generation of articles (252) and content digests that contain sucharticles (254) may be performed in any desired manner, such as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3-11. In order to reduce bandwidthrequirements, the content digest (or a portion thereof) may becompressed (256). For example, in the case of a content digest thatincludes one or more articles where each article in turn includes one ormore content items, content items for which compression will result in asubstantial space savings (such as text) may be compressed, whilecontent items that are already compressed (such as some video formats)and for which compression will not be effective (or as effective) may beleft uncompressed.

A notification may be transmitted (258) to any number of user computingdevices to indicate that the content digest is available to download. Inthe exemplary method 250 depicted in FIG. 2C, multiple requests (260,264) are received requesting different portions of the digest fordownload. These portions are transmitted (262, 268) in response to therequests.

Transmission of the content digest portions (262, 268) may be performedwithout notification of the transmissions to the user of a computingdevice receiving the content digest. For example, portions of thecontent digest may be downloaded to the user's computing device over aperiod of time, and the user notified of the availability of the contentdigest only after all portions of the digest are received and stored inthe memory of the user's device. Transmission of the content digestportions (260, 262) may also be performed independently of any requestfor the content digest from the user or the user's device (i.e., thecontent digest portions are pushed to the user's device).

FIG. 2D depicts an exemplary method that may utilized in conjunctionwith embodiments of the present invention, particularly by a user'scomputing device downloading a content digest. In this example, method270 includes analyzing the user computing device's network connection(272), requesting content from the content digest (274), receiving therequested content (276), and removing stored content (278).

The connection between a computer system providing the content digest(such as content server) and another computing device receiving thecontent digest (such as a user's computing device) may be analyzed (272)to determine the quality of the connection. In some embodiments, theamount and/or type of content requested from the content digest may bepredicated on the quality of the connection, whereby transmission of thecontent digest is only performed in response to the quality of theconnection meeting or exceeding a predetermined threshold. For example,determining the quality of the connection may include determining alevel of packet loss, where transmission of the content digest onlyperformed if a predetermined percentage of packets are successfullybeing received by the target device.

In some embodiments, the types of content from the digest, and the orderin which they are downloaded, may be dependent on the quality of theconnection. For example, if a user computing device is determined tohave a relatively slow connection (e.g., the quality level of theconnection is beneath a predetermined threshold), lead images from thecontent digest are first requested (274) and downloaded (276), andthumbnails of gallery images requested and downloaded afterwards. If theuser computing device is determined to have a relatively fast connection(e.g., the quality level of the connection meets or exceeds apredetermined threshold), all images (thumbnails and full sized images)are requested (274) and downloaded (276), and additional content items(such as video, text, graphs, etc.) are requested and downloadedafterwards.

By requesting portions of content based on the current connectivitycapability of a user's device, embodiments of the present disclosure canstore the entire content digest in the memory of the user's devicewithout significantly impacting the user's other activities on theuser's device (such as browsing websites). Additionally, in embodimentswhere the content digest is published to the user at regular intervals(e.g., twice daily), the portions of the content digest can beincrementally delivered to the user's device for storage in memory, andthen retrieved and displayed at the appropriate time.

In one exemplary embodiment, a request for a first portion of thecontent digest may be delayed until the quality level of the connectionbetween the content server (or other computer system supplying thecontent digest) and a user's computing device meets or exceeds apredetermined threshold. Once the quality of the connection isacceptable and the first portion is transmitted, the second (andsubsequent) portions of the content digest may be requested.

Content may be removed (278) at any desired time, such as prior totransmitting a request for a new content digest. For example, apreviously-stored content digest may be deleted from the memory of auser's computing device once a user completes the digest. Alternatively,old content digests may be deleted from a user's computing device inresponse to the number of stored digests and/or memory used on theclient's device to store such digests, meeting or exceeding apredetermined threshold. Content may be removed based on the amount oftime it has been stored on a device. For example, where multiple contentdigests are stored on a device, the oldest may be removed first. Contentmay also be removed based on the manner in which the user has interactedwith the content. For example, content that a user has not accessed orviewed yet may be preserved on the device, while content the user hasalready viewed may be removed.

Referring again to FIG. 11, embodiments of the present disclosure mayoperate in conjunction with a countdown timer 1102 indicating when acontent digest will be ready to be viewed by the user. In suchembodiments, the content digest may be downloaded to the memory of theuser's device prior to the countdown expiring, without notifying theuser until the countdown timer expires. Once the countdown expires, theuser may be notified of the latest content digest via a popup window,message, chime, and/or other notification. In one exemplary embodiment,expiration of the countdown timer may be coupled with a content alarm,whereby expiration of the timer and/or alarm results in the articles inthe content digest being provided audibly (e.g., via text-to-speechrecognition software) to the user. In this manner, embodiments of thepresent disclosure can read news articles and other content to the useras he/she wakes up, drives home, or other situations.

Exemplary Systems

The methods described in FIGS. 1 and 2A-2C above, as well as otherfunctionality of the embodiments of the present disclosure, may beimplemented using one or more computer systems. FIG. 12 is a blockdiagram of the internal architecture of an exemplary computing device1200 that may be utilized in conjunction with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In this example, computer system 1200 includes one or moreprocessing units (also referred to herein as CPUs) 1212, which interfacewith at least one computer bus 1202. Also interfacing with computer bus1202 are persistent storage medium/media 1206, network interface 1214,memory 1204, e.g., random access memory (RAM), run-time transientmemory, read only memory (ROM), etc., media disk drive interface 1208,an interface 1220 for a drive that can read and/or write to mediaincluding removable media such as floppy, CD-ROM, DVD, etc., media,display interface 1210 as interface for a monitor or other displaydevice, keyboard interface 1216 as interface for a keyboard, pointingdevice interface 1218 as an interface for a mouse or other pointingdevice, and miscellaneous other interfaces 1022 not shown individually,such as parallel and serial port interfaces, a universal serial bus(USB) interface, and the like.

Memory 1204 interfaces with computer bus 1202 so as to provideinformation stored in memory 1204 to CPU 1212 during execution ofsoftware programs such as an operating system, application programs,device drivers, and software modules that comprise program code orlogic, and/or computer-executable process steps, incorporatingfunctionality described herein, e.g., one or more of process flowsdescribed herein. CPU 1212 first loads computer-executable process stepsor logic from storage, e.g., memory 1204, storage medium/media 1206,removable media drive, and/or other storage device. CPU 1212 can thenexecute the stored process steps in order to execute the loadedcomputer-executable process steps. Stored data, e.g., data stored by astorage device, can be accessed by CPU 1212 during the execution ofcomputer-executable process steps.

Persistent storage medium/media 1206 is a computer readable storagemedium(s) that can be used to store software and data, e.g., anoperating system and one or more application programs. Persistentstorage medium/media 1206 can also be used to store device drivers, suchas one or more of a digital camera driver, monitor driver, printerdriver, scanner driver, or other device drivers, web pages, contentfiles, metadata, playlists and other files. Persistent storagemedium/media 1206 can further include program modules/program logic inaccordance with embodiments described herein and data files used toimplement one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a client device implementationof a computing device in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. A client device 1300 may include a computing device capableof sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or a wirelessnetwork, and capable of running application software or “apps” 1310. Aclient device may, for example, include a desktop computer or a portabledevice, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a display pager, aradio frequency (RF) device, an infrared (IR) device, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a set top box, a wearable computer, an integrated devicecombining various features, such as features of the forgoing devices, orthe like.

A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Theclient device or a user device can include standard components such as aCPU 1302, power supply 1328, a memory 1318, ROM 1320, BIOS 1322, networkinterface(s) 1330, audio interface 1332, display 1334, keypad 1336,illuminator 1338, I/O interface 1340 interconnected via circuitry 1326.Claimed subject matter is intended to cover a wide range of potentialvariations. For example, the keypad 1336 of a cell phone may include anumeric keypad or a display 1334 of limited functionality, such as amonochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying text. Incontrast, however, as another example, a web-enabled client device 1300may include one or more physical or virtual keyboards 1336, massstorage, one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, globalpositioning system (GPS) 1324 or other location identifying typecapability, Haptic interface 1342, or a display with a high degree offunctionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, forexample. The memory 1318 can include Random Access Memory 1104 includingan area for data storage 1308.

A client device 1300 may include or may execute a variety of operatingsystems 1306, including a personal computer operating system, such as aWindows, iOS or Linux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS,Android, or Windows Mobile, or the like. A client device 1300 mayinclude or may execute a variety of possible applications 1310, such asa client software application 1314 enabling communication with otherdevices, such as communicating one or more messages such as via email,short message service (SMS), or multimedia message service (MMS),including via a network, such as a social network, including, forexample, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, or Google+, to provideonly a few possible examples. A client device 1300 may also include orexecute an application to communicate content, such as, for example,textual content, multimedia content, or the like. A client device 1300may also include or execute an application to perform a variety ofpossible tasks, such as browsing 1312, searching, playing various formsof content, including locally stored or streamed content, such as,video, or games (such as fantasy sports leagues). The foregoing isprovided to illustrate that claimed subject matter is intended toinclude a wide range of possible features or capabilities.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of system which may be used in conjunctionwith various embodiments. While FIG. 14 illustrates various componentsof a computer system, it is not intended to represent any particulararchitecture or manner of interconnecting the components. Other systemsthat have fewer or more components may also be used.

In FIG. 14, the system 1400 includes a computer system 1410 comprising aprocessor 1412, memory 1414, and user interface 1416. Computer system1410 may include any number of different processors, memory components,and user interface components, and may interact with any other desiredsystems and devices in conjunction with embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

The functionality of the computer system 1410, including the steps ofthe methods described above (in whole or in part), may be implementedthrough the processor 1412 executing computer-readable instructionsstored in the memory 1414 of the system 1410. The memory 1414 may storeany computer-readable instructions and data, including softwareapplications, applets, and embedded operating code. Portions of thefunctionality of the methods described herein may also be performed viasoftware operating on one or more of the user computing devices 1420.

The functionality of the system 1410 or other system and devicesoperating in conjunction with embodiments of the present disclosure mayalso be implemented through various hardware components storingmachine-readable instructions, such as application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and/or complexprogrammable logic devices (CPLDs). Systems according to aspects ofcertain embodiments may operate in conjunction with any desiredcombination of software and/or hardware components. The processor 1412retrieves and executes instructions stored in the memory 1414 to controlthe operation of the system 1410. Any type of processor, such as anintegrated circuit microprocessor, microcontroller, and/or digitalsignal processor (DSP), can be used in conjunction with embodiments ofthe present disclosure. A memory 1414 operating in conjunction withembodiments of the disclosure may include any combination of differentmemory storage devices, such as hard drives, random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), FLASH memory, or any other type of volatileand/or nonvolatile memory. Data can be stored in the memory 1414 in anydesired manner, such as in a relational database.

The system 1410 includes a user interface 1416 that may include anynumber of input devices (not shown) to receive commands, data, and othersuitable input. The user interface 1416 may also include any number ofoutput devices (not shown) to provides the user with data,notifications, and other information. Typical I/O devices may includemice, keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers, scanners, videocameras and other devices.

The system 1410 may communicate with one or more user computing devices1420, as well as other systems and devices in any desired manner,including via network 1430. The system 1410 and/or user computingdevices 1420 may be, include, or operate in conjunction with, a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a mobile subscriber communication device,a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer,an electronic book or book reader, a digital camera, a video camera, avideo game console, and/or any other suitable computing device.

The network 1430 may include any electronic communications system ormethod. Communication among components operating in conjunction withembodiments of the present disclosure may be performed using anysuitable communication method, such as, for example, a telephonenetwork, an extranet, an intranet, the Internet, point of interactiondevice (point of sale device, personal digital assistant (e.g., iPhone®,Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®), cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), onlinecommunications, satellite communications, off-line communications,wireless communications, transponder communications, local area network(LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networkedor linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication ordata input modality. Systems and devices of the present disclosure mayutilize TCP/IP communications protocols as well as IPX, Appletalk, IP-6,NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or any number ofexisting or future protocols.

Communication among systems, devices, and components operating inconjunction with embodiments of the present disclosure may be performedusing any suitable communication method, such as, for example, atelephone network, an extranet, an intranet, the Internet, point ofinteraction device (point of sale device, personal digital assistant(e.g., iPhone®, Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®), cellular phone, kiosk, etc.),online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Systems and devices ofthe present disclosure may utilize TCP/IP communications protocols aswell as IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g.IPsec, SSH), or any number of existing or future protocols.

While some embodiments can be implemented in fully functioning computersand computer systems, various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and are capableof being applied regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods. The executable software and data may be stored invarious places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatilememory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be storedin any one of these storage devices. Further, the data and instructionscan be obtained from centralized servers or peer to peer networks.Different portions of the data and instructions can be obtained fromdifferent centralized servers and/or peer to peer networks at differenttimes and in different communication sessions or in a same communicationsession. The data and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior tothe execution of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the dataand instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when neededfor execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and instructionsbe on a machine readable medium in entirety at a particular instance oftime.

Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile andnon-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable disks,magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., Compact DiskRead-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), etc.), amongothers. The computer-readable media may store the instructions.

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the techniques. Thus, thetechniques are neither limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

Although some of the drawings illustrate a number of operations in aparticular order, operations which are not order dependent may bereordered and other operations may be combined or broken out. While somereordering or other groupings are specifically mentioned, others will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and so do not present anexhaustive list of alternatives. Moreover, it should be recognized thatthe stages could be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or anycombination thereof

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: shipping data, package data, and/or any data useful in theoperation of the system.

Various functionality may be performed via a web browser and/orapplication interfacing utilizing a web browser. Such browserapplications may comprise Internet browsing software installed within acomputing unit or a system to perform various functions. These computingunits or systems may take the form of a computer or set of computers,and any type of computing device or systems may be used, includinglaptops, notebooks, tablets, hand held computers, personal digitalassistants, set-top boxes, workstations, computer-servers, main framecomputers, mini-computers, PC servers, network sets of computers,personal computers and tablet computers, such as iPads, iMACs, andMacBooks, kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices and/orterminals, televisions, or any other device capable of receiving dataover a network. Various embodiments may utilize Microsoft InternetExplorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Opera, or anyother of the myriad software packages available for browsing theinternet.

Various embodiments may operate in conjunction with any suitableoperating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000/CE/Mobile/, Windows 7/8,OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, PalmOS, etc.) as well as variousconventional support software and drivers typically associated withcomputers. Various embodiments may include any suitable personalcomputer, network computer, workstation, personal digital assistant,cellular phone, smart phone, minicomputer, mainframe or the like.Embodiments may implement security protocols, such as Secure SocketsLayer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), and Secure Shell (SSH).Embodiments may implement any desired application layer protocol,including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to a network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, satellite networks, ISDN,Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communicationmethods. It is noted that embodiments of the present disclosure mayoperate in conjunction with any suitable type of network, such as aninteractive television (ITV) network.

The system may be partially or fully implemented using cloud computing.“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.

Various embodiments may be used in conjunction with web services,utility computing, pervasive and individualized computing, security andidentity solutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commoditycomputing, mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics,grid computing and/or mesh computing.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any other databaseconfigurations. Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitablemanner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may bea single file, a series of files, a linked series of data fields or anyother data structure. Association of certain data may be accomplishedthrough any desired data association technique such as those known orpracticed in the art. For example, the association may be accomplishedeither manually or automatically.

Any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may be located at a single location or at multiple locations,wherein each database or system includes any of various suitablesecurity features, such as firewalls, access codes, encryption,decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and symmetric and asymmetriccryptosystems.

Embodiments may connect to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions may pass through a firewall in order to preventunauthorized access from users of other networks.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users.For example, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), MicrosoftTransaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, may be used inconjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT web serversoftware, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In another example, an Apache web server can be used inconjunction with a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and thePerl, PHP, and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL and an IP address. Theweb server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the Internet.

Various embodiments may employ any desired number of methods fordisplaying data within a browser-based document. For example, data maybe represented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, embodiments may utilize any desired number ofmethods for modifying data in a web page such as, for example, free textentry using a keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, optionboxes, and the like.

The exemplary systems and methods illustrated herein may be described interms of functional block components, screen shots, optional selectionsand various processing steps. It should be appreciated that suchfunctional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/orsoftware components configured to perform the specified functions. Forexample, the system may employ various integrated circuit components,e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-uptables, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions underthe control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices.Similarly, the software elements of the system may be implemented withany programming or scripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java,JavaScript, VBScript, Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft ActiveServer Pages, assembly, PERL, PHP, AWK, Python, Visual Basic, SQL StoredProcedures, PL/SQL, any UNIX shell script, and extensible markuplanguage (XML) with the various algorithms being implemented with anycombination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or otherprogramming elements. Further, it should be noted that the system mayemploy any number of conventional techniques for data transmission,signaling, data processing, network control, and the like. Stillfurther, the system could be used to detect or prevent security issueswith a client-side scripting language, such as JavaScript, VBScript orthe like.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure may be embodied as acustomization of an existing system, an add-on product, a processingapparatus executing upgraded software, a stand alone system, adistributed system, a method, a data processing system, a device fordata processing, and/or a computer program product. Accordingly, anyportion of the system or a module may take the form of a processingapparatus executing code, an internet based embodiment, an entirelyhardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of the internet,software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take the form of acomputer program product on a computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-readable program code means embodied in the storage medium. Anysuitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized, includinghard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices,and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” should beconstrued to exclude only those types of transitory computer-readablemedia which were found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope ofpatentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure.

Although the disclosure includes a method, it is contemplated that itmay be embodied as computer program instructions on a tangiblecomputer-readable carrier, such as a magnetic or optical memory or amagnetic or optical disk. All structural, chemical, and functionalequivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodimentsthat are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or methodto address each and every problem sought to be solved by the presentdisclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore,no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether theelement, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These andother changes or modifications are intended to be included within thescope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:generating, by a computer system, a plurality of articles, wherein eachof the plurality of articles includes one or more content items, whereingenerating each article in the plurality of articles includes ranking aplurality of content items on a topic, selecting a subset of contentitems from the plurality of content items based on the respectiveranking of each content item, and including the subset of content itemsin the article, and wherein selecting the subset of content itemsincludes selecting a first content item in a first format and a secondcontent item in a second format, the first content item having thehighest ranking of any of the plurality of content items in the firstformat, and the second content item having the highest ranking of any ofthe plurality of content items in the second format; generating, by thecomputer system, a content digest that includes the plurality ofarticles; transmitting, to a computing device of a user, a notificationindicating the content digest is ready to be downloaded; receiving, fromthe user's computing device, a first request for a first portion of thecontent digest; in response to the first request and to a determinationthat a quality level of a connection between the computer system and theuser's computing device meets or exceeds a first predeterminedthreshold, transmitting the first portion of the content digest to theuser's computing device at a first time, the first portion comprisinglead images from the content digest; receiving, from the user'scomputing device, a second request for a second portion of the contentdigest; in response to the second request and to a determination thatthe quality level of the connection is beneath a second predeterminedthreshold, transmitting the second portion of the content digest to theuser's computing device at a second time, the second portion comprisingthumbnails of gallery images, wherein the first and second portions ofthe content digest are transmitted to the user's computing devicewithout providing any notification of the transmissions to the user. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the entire content digest is transmittedto the user's computing device prior to a predetermined time when thecontent digest is to be presented to the user via the user's computingdevice.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portions of the contentdigest are transmitted to the user's computing device for storage in amemory of the user's computing device and for retrieval and display at atime subsequent to the first time and the second time.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising compressing the content digest prior totransmission.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first time and thesecond time are separated by an interval of at least five seconds. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein prior to transmitting the first request,the user's computing device removes data from a previously-storedcontent digest from the user's computing device.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein removal of the previously-stored content is based on at leastone of a time that the previously-stored content was stored in memory onthe user's computing device, an amount of storage remaining in memory onthe user's computing device, or whether the user accessed thepreviously-stored content.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the firsttime and second time are separated by a predetermined interval, andwherein the user's computing device delays the requesting of the firstportion of the content digest until the quality level of the connectionmeets or exceeds the first predetermined threshold.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more content items include at least one oftext, an image, video, audio, a map, a uniform resource locator, agraph, a slideshow, an article, or a file.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of content items are received from a plurality ofcontent sources.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein ranking eachrespective content item is based on at least one of a popularity levelof the respective content item, an age of the respective content item, asize of the respective content item, an author associated with therespective content item, a publisher associated with the respectivecontent item, or a quality rating of the respective content item. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein generating the article further includesordering and positioning the selected subset of content items within thearticle based on the respective rankings of each respective content itemin the subset.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising providingthe articles in the content digest to the user audibly, by the user'scomputing device, at a predetermined time.
 14. A tangible,non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted, cause a computer system to: generate a plurality of articles,wherein each of the plurality of articles includes one or more contentitems, wherein generating each article in the plurality of articlesincludes ranking a plurality of content items on a topic, selecting asubset of content items from the plurality of content items based on therespective ranking of each content item, and including the subset ofcontent items in the article, and wherein selecting the subset ofcontent items includes selecting a first content item in a first formatand a second content item in a second format, the first content itemhaving the highest ranking of any of the plurality of content items inthe first format, and the second content item having the highest rankingof any of the plurality of content items in the second format; generatea content digest that includes the plurality of articles; transmit, to acomputing device of a user, a notification indicating the content digestis ready to be downloaded; receive, from the user's computing device, afirst request for a first portion of the content digest; in response tothe first request and to a determination that a quality level of aconnection between the computer system and the user's computing devicemeets or exceeds a first predetermined threshold, transmit the firstportion of the content digest to the user's computing device at a firsttime, the first portion comprising lead images from the content digest;receive, from the user's computing device, a second request for a secondportion of the content digest; in response to the second request and toa determination that the quality level of the connection is beneath asecond predetermined threshold, transmit the second portion of thecontent digest to the user's computing device at a second time, thesecond portion comprising thumbnails of gallery images, wherein thefirst and second portions of the content digest are transmitted to theuser's computing device without providing any notification of thetransmissions to the user.
 15. A system comprising: a processor; andmemory in communication with the processor and storing instructionsthat, when executed by the processor, cause the system to: generate aplurality of articles, wherein each of the plurality of articlesincludes one or more content items, wherein generating each article inthe plurality of articles includes ranking a plurality of content itemson a topic, selecting a subset of content items from the plurality ofcontent items based on the respective ranking of each content item, andincluding the subset of content items in the article, and whereinselecting the subset of content items includes selecting a first contentitem in a first format and a second content item in a second format, thefirst content item having the highest ranking of any of the plurality ofcontent items in the first format, and the second content item havingthe highest ranking of any of the plurality of content items in thesecond format; generate a content digest that includes the plurality ofarticles; transmit, to a computing device of a user, a notificationindicating the content digest is ready to be downloaded; receive, fromthe user's computing device, a first request for a first portion of thecontent digest; in response to the first request and to a determinationthat a quality level of a connection to the user's computing devicemeets or exceeds a first predetermined threshold, transmit the firstportion of the content digest to the user's computing device at a firsttime, the first portion comprising lead images from the content digest;receive, from the user's computing device, a second request for a secondportion of the content digest; in response to the second request and toa determination that the quality level of the connection is beneath asecond predetermined threshold, transmit the second portion of thecontent digest to the user's computing device at a second time, thesecond portion comprising thumbnails of gallery images, wherein thefirst and second portions of the content digest are transmitted to theuser's computing device without providing any notification of thetransmissions to the user.